Michelle Nunn concerned over President Obama’s judge pick

ATLANTA — Michelle Nunn raised concerns over President Barack Obama’s controversial judicial nomination in Georgia, but she stopped short of opposing the conservative Democrat who has generated growing backlash from the left.

Nunn is expected to win the Democratic Senate nomination in Georgia on Tuesday and is positioning herself as a moderate. She said that, before deciding whether to oppose Michael Boggs’ lifetime nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, she would have to interview him and learn more about his thinking.

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“In terms of this particular nomination, I share some of the concerns that have been raised by the Senate committee members,” Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, said in an interview. “I would have to — like all the Senate members — sit down with him and have a discussion and really understand what his issues are. … I have some concerns that others share.”

Asked whether that meant she would oppose Boggs, Nunn said: “I think you have to have more information. That’s what you get when you’re actually a senator and a legislator — you have a chance to sit down with him, and I would need to do that.”

The Boggs nomination has generated opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democrats over a number of controversial socially conservative positions he took as a state legislator from 2000-04.

Boggs has since served as a state-level judge, but his positions as a state legislator opposing same-sex marriage and backing abortion restrictions and efforts to keep the Confederate symbol on the Georgia state flag have prompted opposition to his nomination from Democrats.

The White House has defended its pick for the federal bench.

“Well, the president would disagree with an assessment by anyone that reaches the conclusion that Judge Boggs is not qualified for this post,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier this week. “The president believes he is, or he would not have nominated him. But the president of course believes that each senator should vote as he or she sees fit. He believes that all of the nominees he sends up are qualified, and that includes Judge Boggs.”

Georgia’s two Republican senators — Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss — also support Boggs, arguing that he’s a well-qualified nominee and deserves to be confirmed.

At a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Boggs said his past votes won’t necessarily dictate how he’d rule as a federal judge. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) plans to schedule a vote on the nomination — but it’s not clear whether the nomination will have enough support to head to the floor.

The GOP on Friday seized on Nunn’s concerns about Boggs as an opening for a campaign attack.

“Democrat Michelle Nunn is deferring to liberals in Washington by … withholding her judgment on a Georgia judicial nomination that has bipartisan support,” said Leslie Shedd, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Republican Party’s Victory Program. “Georgians deserve a Republican senator who is willing to make decisions, instead of Michelle Nunn who defers to Democrats in Washington.”